Dr. Robert A Scott

Dear Classmates:

I thought I had sent my bio when requested, and even asked to have it acknowledged, but apparently I had not and a mistake was made. Now that I have gone on the tour of A.B. Davic, I am glad I didn't send my bio earlier. On the second floor of our high school, I imagined the place where Biology teacher Joseph Leone called to me, a year after I had "Aced" his class, to ask why I had not signed up for the SAT's. Neither of my parents had gone to college, and my mother had not completed secondary school. With Joe's help, I applied, entered college, and graduated from Bucknell with a Bachelor of Arts in English and from Cornell with my PhD.

Meeting classmates April 28th, and taking the bus from White Plains to Mount Vernon, and back, underscored a lot for me. We didn't pass Third Avenue and Third Street, where I lived in a house that became the foundation for a parking lot. Nor did we pass Grimes Elementary School, to which I walked, and then walked across town once a week to the First Presbyterian Church for Bible study, and back home. I lived so far from school that I was allowed to eat lunch at restaurants while in the forth, fifth and sixth grades. My mother had died when I was nine, and I became very independent.

My greatest high school memories are of my tenth grade research paper, "A Stone's Throw from the Days of Christ," about the Dead Sea Scrolls; Pop Phillip's Latin classes, a subject which I continues for eight more semesters in college; and Mr. Searle's introduction to HiY, where I learned leadership skills.

Reminiscing Saturday, I recalled when I gave up the clarinet, and realized again that comparatively few os my school friends lived on my side, the south side, of town. But being with you, I found classmates I recall with fondness and events I remember, such as standing on the A.B. Davis stage advocating Own Knopping's candidacy for class president.

In the years since I graduated from college, I have worked at Procter and Gamble, served in the U.S. Navy, married, raised two wonderful children who have provided three amazing grandchildren, divorced, and have traveled the world representing the United States and American higher education. For the past twenty-two years, I have been a university president, fifteen at Ramapo College of New Jersey and seven at Adelphi University. I am the only American to hold all three senior posts in American higher education: head of a private university, a public institution, and a state higher education coordinating board. When I left Ramapo, they awarded me an honorary degree and gave the Student Center my name. Earlier, Bucknell awarded me its highest honor as alumnus. This year, I was granted two of Long Island's major awards for community service.

I continue to write scholarly articles, general media articles and essays, and poetry, and have a regular TV show which won a Telly (the cable version of the Emmy).

It was great to see you all, although I regret not having enough time to talk eith everyone.

Thank you.

Bob
http://administration.adelphi.edu/president/speeches.php